Is your business blog actually delivering?

If it isn’t, you’re not alone. In fact, 95% of businesses aren’t satisfied with their blog. And that’s not because they’re bad at blogging—they simply aren’t approaching blogging the right way.

We get it!

You’ve got a lot of great content ideas for your cornerstone blog, but just don’t know how to best put together a long piece of content that readers would wanna actually read till the end. 

Writing a great cornerstone content piece is no easy feat. 

Your readers are here for one reason: they want to learn more about a topic that interests them. But if you don’t hook your readers and make them feel passionate about what you have to say, they’ll check out right after the first paragraph. 

Cornerstone blogs are an essential part of a brand’s content marketing strategy and when done right, can elevate your content marketing game to a whole new level. 

One such brand that’s mastered the art of writing great cornerstone content is Typeform. Typeform has one of the most popular blogs in the world—which is no small feat. It’s hard for any blog to make a splash, let alone a blog that focuses on data collection and form building.

But Typeform does it, and they do it well. 

With an average organic monthly traffic of more than 700k, Typeform has created a name for itself as an online service company specializing in building dynamic forms and online surveys. Their blog isn’t just a dumping ground for their thoughts; it’s a hugely valuable resource for anyone interested in their space.

So how does Typeform garner such a huge amount of organic monthly traffic?  

Glad you asked! We went ahead and analyzed Typeform’s cornerstone content to break down some of the key elements that make this blog a winner in the cornerstone category. 

Here are 11 things Typeform did right in their cornerstone blog post on “Brand Awareness” : 

1. Captivate the reader with the perfect hook

Hooks are important! 

Including them in your article’s first paragraph can compel a reader to follow through and make them want to keep reading. 

As soon we landed on the Typeform blog, we read:

Reading this made us wonder what deeper meaning could brand awareness have in our daily lives. And that’s where the article successfully grabbed our attention with a powerful hook.

A great intro paragraph has two main elements. First, it needs to hook the reader’s attention. Second, it needs to give any necessary background information on the topic being discussed.

A good hook essentially does both these things: it draws the reader into your article and encourages them to keep reading. You can write a great hook by following a few basic principles:

– What is the issue?

– How important is it?

– Why should I care?

So how did Typeform create a powerful hook? 

They started with a topic that interests readers. They crafted their content so that readers could relate to it by looking at it as a part of their daily experiences. 

Next, they hooked their readers with a question. That’s one reason why so many articles start out as “Five Ways to Eat Healthy” or “What You Need to Know About the New Tax Law.” The questions are aimed at an imagined reader who needs help with something.

2. Visually attractive subheadings

A great cornerstone article should have visually attractive subheadings.

Visually attractive subheadings are important because they make the article more readable, they break up the text, and they can help lead the reader through the article in a way that makes sense.

Check out how Typeform uses colored sections for introducing new subheadings to break the monotony of a long text and add a visual appeal to their cornerstone blog. 

Including visually appealing subheadings help make your content more scannable, which means it’s easier for your audience to find what they’re looking for in the post. This is especially important if you’re writing about a complex topic and want to make sure that people who aren’t experts on the subject can still understand some of the concepts.

When a reader sees an attractive subheading, they know that it’s a good place for them to start reading if they don’t have time or attention span for all of your content at once. This is why it’s so important that you put some thought into what type of design elements can go into making up each section heading as well as its font size so there’s enough white space around each subheading in order to really stand out from everything else on page one!

3. Quotes from industry experts

Quotes from industry experts are a great way to bring more credibility to your article.

Reading an article can feel like someone telling you what they think, and often that’s the case. However, if you’re trying to persuade readers to adopt a new worldview or take a stance on something, it can be helpful to turn the conversation from “I think” to “experts agree.”

When you cite experts in your article, you are showing your readers that there is a general consensus about the topic at hand. It is also useful for connecting your readers with people who may be able to help them further on their journey.

In its cornerstone blog, Typeform occasionally features quotes from industry experts in order to be perceived as more authoritative by their readers. Moreover, including these expert quotes help them highlight their point more effectively, thereby increasing the reader’s trust in their content.

4. Real-life examples

People love stories—they’re much more engaging than a list of facts. Stories give people a way to connect with the information, and they can inspire readers to take action.

When you include real-life examples in your articles, you’re not just telling readers what works; you’re showing them. This is crucial because readers want to know exactly what they need to do—step by step—to achieve their goals. And it’s much easier for them to envision doing something if they’ve seen someone else do it successfully before.

One thing we love about Typeform’s blog is how they’re always including real-life examples in their articles. It’s helpful to see how they’ve implemented their lessons with real companies, and it really helps us understand how to apply the advice. The reader can relate to the examples and is, therefore, more likely to identify with the article’s message.

5. Outbound Links 

External links to authoritative sources are a great way to build credibility for your own article. Links are a great way to provide your readers with more information on the topic you’re covering. They help you establish authority, as well as give credit where credit is due. And they help your readers understand the topic better without having to leave your article to do so.

• It helps your readers: You’re giving them valuable resources they can use to continue their research on the topic you’re discussing. It also makes it easier for your readers to trust you and take your advice because you’re showing them that you’re not trying to sell anything to them—you simply want to provide valuable information.
• It helps other content creators: When you link to someone else’s work, they’ll be notified by Google that their site is receiving a referral from yours, which can increase traffic and visibility for them while giving them the chance to link back to your site in the future.
• You build trust: Finally, by linking out to other people’s content, you show Google that your site is trustworthy and authoritative on the topic your article is about.

In its blog, Typeform links to various resources that can help their readers take their next step in improving brand awareness for their company: 

Suggestions like these are not only aimed at giving the readers a holistic view of the topic but also help them get better at it with the help of such resources.  

6. Write a Listicle post

We’ve all been there. You’re browsing through a website or a blog and you see an article that looks really interesting, but it’s a thousand words long. There is NO WAY your brain can handle anything more than a few sentences here or there. You close the tab and go back to scrolling through Twitter.

This is where Listicles i.e articles written in list format come to the rescue. 

Typeform’s 8000-word blog is easier to grasp because of its adoption of a listicle format to convert large pieces of content into easily understandable snippets. ​​This blog post uses the following types of lists: numbered lists, bullets, and block quotes to turn a vast amount of information into more engaging and memorable writing. 

The best cornerstone articles are listicles. Because they break down complex ideas into digestible bites, listicles are easier to read and understand than more traditional blog content. This makes them more valuable to readers, which makes them more likely to be shared, which means more traffic for you!

Here’s why you should write your next article in listicle style:

• They are easy to read: People love lists because they’re easy to read, and they help people understand exactly what your article is about.
• They’re also easy for you to write: You don’t have to spend a lot of time figuring out how to structure your article or trying to shoehorn it into a specific format. You just come up with the points you want to make and then write one sentence for each point. Easy peasy!
• That makes them perfect for mobile devices: People love reading lists on their phones because it’s super easy on their eyes and their brains aren’t overwhelmed by too much information at once.

7. Maintain a conversational tone 

Writing with a conversational tone is one of the best ways to get your readers’ attention, keep them reading, and come back for more. 

People want to know that they’re not just reading words on a page—they want to feel connected to the person behind them. They want to feel like they’re having a conversation with a friend, and that they can trust you.

The best way to do this? Write as if you were talking with someone in real life! 

When you’re writing conversationally, you want to sound like you’re talking to your reader. This means that you should use the kinds of words and phrases that you would use if you were talking to someone. 

Typeform employs a conversational writing style in its cornerstone blog. In order to accomplish this feat, Typeform has coupled strong writing with an informal tone that still remains professional and credible. By blending punctuation styles to create a casual tone and including friendly references such as “we” and “our,” the company creates an accessible voice that makes readers feel more like they’re interacting with a human being rather than reading a textbook or news article. This approach is more effective than formal, stiff writing because it makes readers feel more comfortable with the writer and their ideas.

By adopting a conversational approach, Typeform has been able to attract more readers than if it had used traditional standard business language styles found in many other types of business blogs.

Conversational writing isn’t just about what words you use, but also how you use them. You want to avoid jargon and big fancy words whenever possible but also consider sentence length and structure. Instead of stringing together a bunch of long sentences, try to mix it up by using shorter, choppier sentences that make your writing easier to read and understand.

8. Keep a good keyword density

Cornerstone content is the type of content that is evergreen and will continue to bring you traffic and conversions months and even years after you publish it. However, if you want to get the most out of your cornerstone articles, you’ll need to make sure they have good keyword density.

A high keyword density lets search engines know what your cornerstone article is about. This allows them to direct the right users to it and helps you rank higher for your desired keyword.

Here are four reasons why good keyword density in cornerstone articles is essential:

• Good keyword density gives your article a better chance of ranking high on search engines like Google. That, in turn, can mean more traffic and more conversions for your website.
• Keywords can help you draw readers into your article by making it clear what they can expect when they click on an article link or title. That’s especially important if you’re hoping to use your cornerstone articles in email marketing campaigns or share them on social media.
• A good balance of keywords within an article makes it more likely that people will read all the way through the content and stay engaged with it as long as possible. They’ll be able to follow along with the concepts and ideas being presented because the keywords help guide them through the content and give them context for what they’re reading about.

In the case of Typeform, their cornerstone blog has a good frequency of keywords like brand awareness, brand, and social media which makes their article on brand awareness rank on the first page of google search results.  

9. Make it easy to grasp

When it comes to making sure your cornerstone article is as great as it can be, there are a number of things you can do. But the most important one might not be what you’d expect: it’s to make your article easy to read.

• Ease in readability: Use simple vocabulary, so that readers can quickly and easily understand what you’re trying to communicate. You should not have too many sentences that are more than 20 words long. Not too many paragraphs that are more than five sentences long.
• Clarity: You know what you’re talking about, and it’s obvious to the reader. You guide them through the subject matter without making them feel confused or frustrated.
• Brevity:​ ​(not word count)​ – You’ve said everything you need to say, but nothing more than that.
• Appropriateness of length:​ The length of your article is appropriate for your target audience and the subject you’re communicating about.
• Shorter paragraphs: Break up your text into sections that are easier to skim. Also, keep your paragraphs short and include plenty of white space between them. 

Typeform’s blog ticks all of the above boxes making it a winner. 

Publish a cornerstone blog like Typeform

We’ve broken down the best parts of Typeform’s cornerstone blog on Brand Awareness and what makes it simply the best in its niche. 

Typeform’s blog is a great example of how to create posts that will drive traffic to your site and help you build your brand. Go ahead and steal some of these key takeaways to create cornerstone content that your audience will love.